1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to intravenous systems used in the medical arts, and more particularly to an intravenous system which is at all times closed so that the patient's blood is at all times contained within the intravenous system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical patients are frequently in need of intravenous (IV) procedures wherein a needle is utilized to pierce the patient's skin and a selected vein to thereby gain access to the patient's circulatory system. IV procedures are an extremely common and important aspect of medical practice for a multitude of compelling reasons, such as for example to extract blood for sampling and testing purposes, or for introducing one or more fluids into the patient's circulatory system.
FIGS. 1 through 7 depict the conventional IV system in terms of both the conventional IV apparatus and the conventional procedure of use of the conventional IV apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional IV apparatus 20 is composed of a needle member 22 and a sleeve member 24. The needle member 22 is composed of a medical needle 26 sealingly anchored to a plastic needle head 28. The needle 26 and the needle head 28 each have a mutually communicating first passageway P1 so that blood may flow through the needle into and through the needle head, wherein the needle head is porousably plugged at its terminous remote from the needle by a plug 28a. The sleeve member 24 is composed of a flexible plastic sleeve 30 sealingly anchored to a plastic sleeve head 32. The sleeve 30 and the sleeve head 32 each have a mutually communicating second passageway P2 so that blood may flow through the sleeve into and through the sleeve head. The sleeve 30 is dimensioned to coaxially receive therein the needle 26 and the sleeve head 32 is structured to receive the needle head 28 adjacent the needle. A plastic protective capsule 34 snappingly engages with the needle head 28 so as to protectively receive therein the needle 26, the sleeve 30 the sleeve head 32 and a portion of the needle head 28 adjacent the needle.
The conventional procedure for use of the conventional IV apparatus 20 is depicted in FIGS. 2 through 7.
A caregiver first ascertains a suitable vein V of the patient, and then uses the conventional IV apparatus 20 to fluidically access the vein. As depicted in FIG. 2, this procedure involves grasping the sleeve head 32 and needle head 28 and thereupon causing the needle 26 and its surrounding sleeve 30 to pierce the skin S and the vein V sufficiently that the sleeve is well inside the vein, as shown in FIG. 3. In this regard, the needle 26 provides the necessary rigidity and sharpness to effect the penetration; accordingly for this reason, the sleeve 30 is offset from the needle tip 26a.
Because the needle 26 is too rigid to be left in the patient for an extended time (accidental movements of the needle have the potential of causing trauma to the vein area), it is next necessary to extract the needle 26 so that only the sleeve 30 is left in the vein V. In this regard, the caregiver then extracts the needle member 22 slidingly in relation to the sleeve member 24 until it is free therefrom, as shown in FIG. 6 (the separational movement being represented by arrow A).
Once the needle 26 is extracted, blood from the vein V will spurt freely through the second passageway P2 and externally out the sleeve head 32. Quickly, therefore, the caregiver must install a fitting 36 onto the sleeve head 32 (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 6) in order to stop blood spillage. In this regard, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sleeve head is provided with wings 32a which threadably engage internal threads 36a of the fitting 36. As shown best by FIG. 7, the fitting 36 is provided with a centrally disposed tubular projection 36b which sealingly abuts a gently conically shaped inside wall 32b of the sleeve head 32. While the fitting 36 has a third passageway P3 therein which fluidically communicates with the second passageway P2 of the sleeve member 24, blood is prevented from escaping therefrom by action of a resistent stopper 38 located at the remote end 36c of the fitting. Now a coupling 40 having a proboscis 42 and a clip 44, wherein the clip engages the fitting 36 when the proboscis has pierced the resistent stopper 38 and fluidically communicates with the vein via the second and third passageways P2, P3. A receptacle 46 on the coupling 40 sealingly receives an external IV line L.
While the above recounted conventional IV system provides a medically sound modality for providing an IV, it has associated with it a potential danger and mess occasioned because the conventional IV system is open between the time the needle member is extracted from the sleeve member and the fitting is connected with the sleeve head. Accordingly, what is needed is an IV system which is at all times closed.